Fame or No Fame, Depression is Main Killer in Film Field

Fame comes in the disguise of depression and prompts people to go for suicides or extreme fatal steps in life and whether it was Hollywood or Bollywood, history is replete with numerous examples and lessons to learn from.

Punjabi Singer Dharampreet

Any film field in the world, death stalks fame or failure alike. Deepika Padukone steered the film fraternity to disclose recently that she did undergo bouts of depression, while the fame forced Aarti Agarwal to opt for a fatal lipo-suction surgery in the US as Hyderabad doctors advised against it and now Dharampreet, a Punjabi singer ended his life after a concer under depression.

Dharampreet, Punjabi singer killed himself at his home in Bhatinda, after returning home from a concert in Amritsar. It is believed that the 38-year-old singer was depressed because of his declining career as his last album was released in the year 2010.

Deaths in film industry by choice or by committing suicide is not new. Here is a look at the industry’s lost souls due to failure or depression or even ignorance.

Before Aarti Agarwal, who attempted suicide once for failure in love, if not in fame, ended up making a fatal decision to go under the knife for lipo-suction surgery in the US. Her career was on downturn since 2006 and she ended her marriage in divorce within a year. The 31-year-old chose for surgery despite advise against it by Hyderabad doctors.

Not long ago, it was southern actress Silk Smitha, who was found hanging at her Chennai apartment at 35, despite being at the peak of her career. In her suicide note left behind, she blamed failure in career and frustration. In fact, her roles in many films guaranteed success at the box office and she acted for Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and a few Hindi movies too. She was also seen in a serious role in ‘Moondram Pirai’ in Tamil, directed by Balu Mahendra in 1982.

Another actress, Shoba, who started her career in the film industry ever since she was a child, killed herself in 1980 when she was 17 years old and featured in almost 60 movies. She also won the National Award for Best Actress for her performance in ‘Pasai,’ a Tamil movie, the year she died.

Next was the niece of actor-politician M G Ramachandran by name Jayalaxmi, who comitted suicide in 1980 at the age of 22. She worked with actors like Rajnikanth, Kamal Haasan, NTR and Chiranjeevi in Tamil and Telugu movies. She also had a prefix to her name ‘Fatafat’ which means quick, the catchphrase from her movie ‘Aval Oru Thodar Kathai.’

Other Tamil and Telugu actors who killed themselves include Viji who killed herself in the year 2000. She left behind a blaming suicide note which pointed towards director A R Ramesh.

Two years later, two young actresses died in the same month — Prathyusha, 21, who killed herself in an suicide pact with her boyfriend as her parents did not allow her to marry him, and Mona, 21, sister of actress Simran, who hanged herself in her home.

In Bollywood, the recent suicide of the 25-year-old actress Jiah Khan in Mumbai apartment, leaving behind a suicide note which alleged actor Suraj Pancholi to be the reason behind her death.

Even ‘Parveen Babi’, yesteryears heroine almost drove herself to death aged 55, with diabetes and paranoid schizophrenia.

Move over to Hollywood, last year saw famous universal comedian Robin Williams, who killed himself after battling depression for years, despite the fact that he made the entire world laugh and enjoy his characters in many films.

If not suicide, drug overdose was another fatal curse on Hollywood for long. The drug overdose resulted in the deaths of Seymour Hoffman, Tony Scott-Top Gun director, Singer Whitney Houstan and Amy Winehouse. and fashion designer’s L’Wren Scott and Glee star Cory Moneith.

Above all, Marilyn Monoroe, the famous American actress who basically initiated the concept of being a sex symbol in the movies, was found dead due to drug overdose. she was 36 when she died and her death was mysterious and conspiracy theories involved even the Kennedy family, CIA and Mafia.

In many case, fame comes disguised in the form of depression for celebrities who can’t handle the surroundings being in limelight always.

However, latest actors and actresses such as Deepika Padukone openly revealed that she did undergo bouts of depression and sought medical intervention. Even, Varun Dhawan who said that he was depressed and sought medical assistance when he was shooting for the movie ‘Badlapur.’

We also have Hollywood celebs who admitted that they have fought depression and living a good life now. The list includes Owen Wilson, Jon Hamm and Winona Ryder.

There is life even after success. Instead of taking away your life, see if you can help the poor and needy. That will take away the entire stress of fame and name.

One comment

Depression is a DAILY struggle; it takes hard work to overcome it. For anyone suffering from depression, I recommend the Destroy Depression System. Written by James Gordon, a former depression & PTSD sufferer, it teaches 7 natural steps which he used to cure his own depression and has helped thousands.